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Director closes the book on literature venture

Jason Steger

SHE is the director of PEN World Voices Festival in New York, a previous director of the Sydney Writers' Festival, and a former author, editor and publisher. So she seemed an almost perfect appointment as the inaugural director of Melbourne's Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas.

But less than two months after landing the job of running the centrepiece of the city's successful bid to become a UNESCO International City of Literature, Caro Llewellyn has withdrawn, citing unexpected personal reasons. She said in a statement that she was deeply disappointed.

Llewellyn's three-year contract was to start in May and she was due to visit Melbourne next week to begin the process of creating the centre as she and the board envisioned it. Instead, the board is negotiating with another possible director and hopes to make an appointment within a couple of weeks.

Llewellyn was clearly excited by the prospect of running the new centre, which will be based in a substantially renovated part of the State Library. She had made no plans to return from New York, where she had been based since 2006, until the position came up.

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"The job's bringing me back. There are very few opportunities like this and it's an incredible centre that's being set up. I couldn't possibly say no," she told The Age on the day of her appointment in December.

The Government contributed several million dollars to repair work at the State Library in 2007, and in May last year committed an additional $10.4 million to the project, $7 million of which was to go to developing a program of 1000 events a year.

The centre is due to open in September or October, with a budget of $1.5 million a year.